Research landscape on digital inclusion for older adults: A bibliometric analysis

As the global demographic structure changes rapidly, especially with an increasing aging population, the world is also undergoing a digital transformation driven by the widespread use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Their standardized development trajectories often overlook the information disparities and socioeconomic divides faced by digitally disadvantaged groups, especially older adults. The limited or absent digital access increases the risks of social exclusion faced by the elderly. In this regard, digital inclusion has become a strategy for bridging technical or even social gaps. Given the importance and practical significance of this issue, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to answer the main trends in research on digital inclusion among older adults and what implications they have for future research. For this purpose, this study employed the Web of Science database to provide a systematic review of literature on digital inclusion for older adults published prior to 2025. Publication trends over time, co-author relationships, citation and co-citation patterns, disciplinary distribution and theoretical foundations, and keyword co-occurrence patterns were analyzed. Finally, the emerging research themes and development trends in this domain were revealed. Results indicate that research on digital inclusion for older adults was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, showing a significant increase in the number of studies beginning in 2020. Citation network analysis identified five core research directions: multidimensional digital divide and social exclusion; social digital interventions and their influencing factors; digital health literacy and information behavior; digital technology adoption and group differences; and digital inclusion and digital cognition.